Whether or not you believe in ghosts, hopefully
youll find your house "haunted" by
photographs, documents, and other things your ancestors
left behind. In the second episode, youll learn how
to look at home, in some of the most unlikely places, to
find clues about your ancestors and pieces of the past.

Tips

Begin your search at home.

Review the information you already have on your pedigree
chart to help you decide what new information to
look for.

Be creative. Clues about your ancestors can be found
in unlikely places.

Enlist the help of extended family members to look
for documents, photographs, and other clues in
their homes.

Handle the things you find with care, using
gloves and archival quality storage materials.

Record the information you find on your research log.

Suggested Activities

Look around your house for photographs, documents, old
letters, journals, newspaper clippings, family Biblesanything
that might provide new information for your pedigree
chart or verify the information you already have.
Document your own life first by gathering records and
information about your birth, marriage, graduation,
military service, and so on. It is the same process you
will eventually use to document the lives of your
ancestors. Make copies of the originals and organize your
materials in labeled file folders or large envelopes.
Enter the new information on your pedigree chart. Record
your progress on your research log or family group
record. A family group record is a tool to help you
organize your research by families. Because information
about an individual ancestor is most often found with
information about the ancestors siblings or parents,
a Family Group Record is a helpful organizational tool.
It includes room to write information found about a
husband, his wife and their children.